More product, more process: metadata in digital image collections

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Therrell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Digital Image ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
New York Public Library ◽  
Digital Collection ◽  
Collection Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implications of current theories that advocate for minimal levels of description in digital collections. Specifically, this paper looks at the archival theory of “More Product, Less Process” and its encouragement of collection-level description. The purpose of the study was to analyze how levels of description impact resource retrieval. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzed 35 images from a New York Public Library (NYPL) digital collection present on the NYPL website and on Flickr. The methodology was designed to reflect users’ information seeking behavior for image collections. There were two research questions guiding this study: what are the descriptive terms used to describe items in digital collections? and what is the success rate of retrieving resources using assigned descriptive terms? Findings The results of this study revealed that the images from the NYPL collection were more difficult to find on the institution’s website as compared with Flickr. These findings suggest that lesser levels of description in digital collections hinder resource retrieval. Research limitations/implications These findings suggest that lesser description levels hurt the findability of resources. In the wake of theories such as “More Product, Less Process”, information professionals must find ways to assign metadata to individual materials in digital image collections. Originality/value Recent research concerning description levels of digital collections is several years old and focuses mostly on the usefulness of collection-level metadata as a supplement to or substitute for item-level metadata. Few, if any, studies exist that explore the implications of description levels on resource retrievability and findability. This study is also unique in that it discusses these implications in the context of less-is-more theories of archival processing.

Service decision-making processes at three New York state cooperative public library systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 418-432
Author(s):  
Xiaoai Ren
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New York ◽  
New York State ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
York State ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Cluster Analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at the organizational structure and service provisions of cooperative public library systems in New York State. The study also seeks to ask questions of how cooperative public library systems decide what services to provide. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied on New York State public library systems’ 2008 annual reports to generate quantitative profiles of public library systems and their service transactions. Three cooperative public library systems displaying different service features were purposefully selected for further study of their service decision-making processes. The face-to-face and phone interviews were adopted in the study. Findings – Research findings from this study provide information on specific service variations across cooperative public library systems. The findings also provide differences of service decision-making processes in addition to the factors that might cause these differences. Originality/value – This study adds knowledge of public library systems’ management and organizational structures, therefore fills a knowledge gap on public library systems. It can also serve as the baseline for future studies using newer annual report data and therefore to study the changing roles and services of cooperative public library systems in New York State.

scholarly journals Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Basso ◽  
Federica Pozzi ◽  
Jessica Keister ◽  
Elizabeth Cronin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Fiber Optics ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Extreme Environment ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Full Characterization ◽  
New York Public Library ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, original photographs were sent to publishers so that they could be reproduced in print. The photographs often needed to be reworked with overpainting and masking, and such modifications were especially necessary for low-contrast photographs to be reproduced as a letterpress halftone. As altered objects, many of these marked-up photographs were simply discarded after use. An album at The New York Public Library, however, contains 157 such photographs, all relating to the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land, from 1894 to 1897. Received as gifts from publishers, the photographs are heavily retouched with overpainting and masking, as well as drawn and collaged elements. The intense level of overpainting on many of the photographs, but not on others, raised questions about their production and alteration. Jackson’s accounts attested to his practice of developing and printing photographs on site, testing different materials and techniques—including platino-bromide and silver-gelatin papers—to overcome the harsh environmental conditions. In this context, sixteen photographs from the album were analyzed through a combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). This analytical campaign aimed to evaluate the possible residual presence of silver halides in any of the preliminary and improved photographs. The detection of these compounds would be one of several factors supporting a hypothesis that some of the photographs in the album were indeed printed on site, in the Arctic, and, as a result, may have been impacted by the extreme environment. Additional goals of the study included the evaluation of the extent of retouching, providing a full characterization of the pigments and dyes used in overpainted prints, and comparing the results with contemporaneous photographic publications that indicate which coloring materials were available at the time. Further analyses shed light on the organic components present in the binders and photographic emulsions. This research has increased our knowledge of photographic processes undertaken in a hostile environment such as the Arctic, and shed light on the technical aspects of photographically illustrating books during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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